Argument over clothes leads to stabbing in Gaslamp

A scuffle — started by an argument over a clothing choice — in the Gaslamp Quarter early Sunday led to a stabbing that sent a man to the hospital, San Diego police said.

A 53-year-old man was walking down Fifth Avenue near Island Avenue just before 2 a.m. when a stranger in his early 30s started yelling at him, police said.

The two began arguing about a piece of clothing the older man wore, and the confrontation turned into a scuffle.

During the struggle, the assailant pulled out a knife with a 3-inch blade and stabbed the older man in the abdomen. He took off running down Island. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital with a stab wound not considered to be life-threatening, police said.

Police described the assailant as a white man in his early 30s, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. He had a thin build, and had either a goatee or a beard and was wearing a tan jacket, baggy blue jeans and a blue baseball cap with white brim.